Man pleads to involuntary manslaughter in girl's death

Published: Friday, March 15, 2013 at 11:04 a.m.

Last Modified: Friday, March 15, 2013 at 11:04 a.m.

ASHEVILLE — A man has pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter in the death of a 9-year-old girl who was struck by a car in Buncombe County.

Twenty-nine-year-old Harry Smith Kimmons III originally was charged with first-degree murder in the death of the girl last year.

Kimmons also pleaded guilty to assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill inflicting serious injury for striking the girl’s mother, who was his fiancee.

In May 2012, police said Kimmons had argued with Simpson shortly before she and her daughter were hit.

Prosecutors said they agreed to allow the lesser charges because evidence from the car’s digital information system showed Kimmons was applying the brakes when his car struck Jennifer Simpson and her daughter, Eryka Phillips, as they walked along a road last May.

Judge Mark Powell sentenced Kimmons to about four years to six years in prison.

In May 2012, the Asheville Police Department said an investigation revealed that Kimmons was in an argument with Simpson while in the parking lot of BI-LO on the highway.

The argument escalated and Simpson and her daughter got out of the vehicle and began walking westbound, the department said in a news release. Kimmons also drove off westbound.

Shortly thereafter, Kimmons returned to the scene eastbound and struck Simpson and her daughter as they were walking on the sidewalk, according to the release.

Phillips succumbed to extensive injuries and died shortly after transport to Mission Hospital.

Simpson, who lived with Kimmons, sustained life-threatening injuries and was taken to Mission Hospital after suffering multiple broken bones to her lower extremities, and head trauma.

The physical evidence at the scene, as well as witness statements, suggest that this was an intentional act by Kimmons, police said in the May 2012 news release.

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